arXiv: An API for Research-Grade Information

arXiv.org is an online archive of nearly a half million science, math, and computer science research documents. Operated by Cornell University, with partial funding from the National Science Foundation, arXiv now offers an API that provides programmable access to the documents, the goal being to "facilitate new use of the vast body of material on the arXiv."

[arXiv.org] has become the primary means of communicating manuscripts on current and ongoing research. The arXiv repository is available worldwide. Manuscripts are often submitted to the arXiv before they are published by more traditional means. In some cases they may never be submitted or published elsewhere.

The arXiv API uses the REST protocol, returning results in XML. The API is well-documented, with examples of how to use the API in Perl, Python, Ruby, and PHP provided. The API enables searching within more than 120 different subject categories.

The academic world is highly community-oriented, so it's no surprise that the arXiv API developers provide users with community resources: a mailing list and an #arxiv chat room at irc.freenode.net.

An ever-increasing stream of reference documents is being made available online. Fortunately, with nearly 40 reference APIs available, there's more options to help researchers in finding the exact information they need.